Hunter&#39;s blind



G. KILLING ER HUNTER S BLIND May 23, 1939.

Filed March 23, 1938 Patented May 23, 1939 PATENT OFFICE.

HUNTERS BLIND George Killinger, Burlington, Iowa, assignor of one-half to Walter L. Harvey, Marshalltown,

Iowa

Application March 23, 1938, Serial No. 197,683

6 Claims.

The object of my invention is to provide a hunters blind of. simple, durable and inexpensive construction and of light weight which may be folded into a small compact bundle for convenience in transportation, and which may be readily and quickly erected in position for use and readily and quickly removed from one position to another without being fully collapsed.

More specifically, it is my object to provide a structure of this class in which the operator may conveniently, easily and quickly, while standing at one corner of the structure, expand all four sides of the structure, or collapse all four sides of the structure without moving from his position at one corner of the structure to thereby save time.

A further object is to provide a top cover for the structure which may be collapsed into a small compact bundle and readily and quickly opened out and applied to the upper ends of the upright rods in position to shed rain and also to brace and support the structure against wind pressure.

In the accompanying drawing .Figure 1 shows a perspective view of my improved hunters blind with the top cover in position;

Figure 2 shows a vertical central sectional view of same;

Figure 3 shows a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2, looking down;

Figure l shows a perspective view of the top cover, the dotted lines show the movable coversupporting bar in position for use at right angles to the other cover supporting bar;

Figure 5 shows a detail perspective view illustrating the means for detachably securing the side cover to the adjacent upright rod;

Figure 6 shows a detail top view illustrating the sliding bracket to be mounted on an upright rod and showing portions of the adjacent lever braces supported thereto; and

Figure 7 shows a side elevation of the blind in collapsed position for transportation.

The frame of the structure comprises four upright corner rods I0, their lower edges being adapted to be pressed into the earth. Surrounding these four upright rods is a flexible cover indicated generally by the reference numeral H and being attached at its upper and lower edges to said rods. One means for so attaching the cover H to the rods is shown in Figure 5 and consists in forming eyelets l2 in the cover member and inserting a string 13 through the eyelets and around the adjacent upright Ill, there being a lug M on the upright to prevent movement of the string in one direction. The ends of the string are tied together in the ordinary manner.

For the purpose of laterally bracing the up- 5 rights and providing means for forcibly expanding and contracting the structure I have provided a series of four lever braces, indicated by the reference numeral l5. On each of the upright rods H1 is a bracket l6, shown in- Figure 6, I0 and the said lever braces are pivoted to said brackets. As shown in Figure 3, two of the brackets at A are fixed to the adjacent upright rods ID by spot-welding, or otherwise, and the remaining two brackets, indicated in Figure 3 15 at B, are slidingly mounted upon the adjacent rods, and these brackets have set-screws I! mounted therein to engage the adjacent rods 10.

By means of this structure, and assuming that the structure is in its expanded position, as shown in Figure 2, and the set-screws I! are both loosened, an operator may readily, quickly and easily collapse the structure from position adjacent one of the brackets A by first grasping one of the lever braces I5, by reaching down through the top of the structure with one hand, andat the same time with the other hand pull the upright rod to which the same lever brace is pivotally and slidingly connected, up out of the ground, then by pushing downwardly on said 80 lever brace, as shown by dotted lines at I8 in Figure 2, the structure may be partially collapsed, then by grasping the other adjacent lever brace IS with one hand, and the remaining upright to which said lever brace is pivotally and slidingly connected, with the other hand, he may remove said upright from its position in the earth, and by pushing downwardly on the lever brace, collapse the remainder of the structure. Obviously, these two operations may be readily, quickly and easily performed by an operator standing at one corner of the structure only and making only these two movements.

Similarly, when the structure is collapsed and it is desired to expand it, the operator places the structure in upright position and places one of the rods [0 in the ground and then first ra ses one of the levers 15 to expand one side of the structure, then raises the other lever to expand the remainder of thestructure, all of which can be done without the operator changing his position.

I have also provided an improved collapsible top cover for shedding rain and for bracing the structure against wind pressure. This comprises a flexible top cover [9 having flaps 201 at its sides to extend down over the outside of the side cover member H, to which it may be detachably secured by buttons 2| or in the ordinary way.

On the under surface of the top cover I have secured a flexible bar 22 connected by stitches or otherwise at 23 to the cover l9. Pivotally connected to the bar 22 is another similar bar 24 which is not stitched to the cover l9, and at the ends of these bars are openings 25 to receive I the upper ends of the rods Ill. The length of said bars between the openings 25 is such that in order to place the bars on the uprights ID when they are in their erected position, the central portions of the said bars Ill must be bowed upwardly, as shown in Figure 1, and then the cover may be readily and easily placed on the rods I0. This provides an arched topfor the cover to shed rain and at the same time braces and supports the structure against Wind pressure.

On the interior of the flexible cover H at one side I preferably provide a series of pockets 26 formed of flexible material and designed to receive shells 21, and I also preferably provide a pocket of flexible material at 28.

Another advantageous feature of my invention is inthe location of the lever braces at approximately the central portion of the corner uprights and forming the cover II in substantially rectangular form closed on all sides. Due to this structure and when the lever braces are extended they hold the entire structure in its open position because both the upper and the lower ends of the uprights are held against outward movement by the cover, hence, when thus in opened position the entire structure may be raised from the earth and moved to another position without collapsing the structure, and this may be easily accomplished by a single operation within the structure.

In the-front of the structure there is anv entrance opening at 29, the edges of which may be connected together by means of a zipper, or buttons, or in any ordinary manner not shown. I also preferably provide in each of the sides a peep opening 30, and on the exterior of the flexible cover H, near the bottom, is a seriesoflorushholding pockets 3|, made of flexible material, and near the top at each side is another series of brush-holding pockets 32, of flexible material. In these pockets may be inserted brush such as illustrated at 33 in Figure 2, to make a concealing cover for the structure. The entire apparatus, when collapsed, may be rolled up into a small bundle and tied together with strings 34, as shown in Figure 7.

I claim as my invention:

1. A structure of the class described, comprising four upright rods, a lever brace pivoted to each upright rod near the central portion of the rod and extended to an adjacent upright rod and pivotally and slidingly mounted thereon, and a flexible cover surrounding the upright rods and the lever braces and being of a size to limit the outward movement of the ends of the'upright rods when the lever braces are substantially horizontal.

2. In a structure of the class described, the combination of four upright rods at the corners of the structure, their lower ends being adapted stantially horizontal.

to be forced into the earth, two lever braces pivotally and non-slidably connected to one of the upright rods, and two similar lever braces pivotally and non-slidably connected to the diametrically opposite upright, a bracket slidably mounted on each of the remaining uprights and each bracket having the ends of two of said lever braces pivoted thereto, and a flexible cover surrounding the uprights and attached thereto and 7 being of a size to limit the outward movement of the uprights when the lever braces are sub- 3. A structure of the class described, comprising four upright corner post rods, two lever braces, eachbeing pivoted at one end to one of said rods for movement in planes at right angles to each other, the opposite ends of said lever braces being pivotally and slidingly connected to the two adjacent uprights, two lever braces each being pivotally connectedat one end to the remaining upright rod for movement in planes at right angles to each other and having their remaining ends pivotally and slidingly connected to the adjacent upright rods, and a flexible cover attached to and surrounding the uprights and the lever braces and being of a size to limit the outward movement of the uprights when the lever braces are substantially horizontal.

4. In a structure of the class described, the combination of four upright rods at the corners of the structure, their lower ends being adapted to be forced into the earth, two lever braces pivotally and non-slidably connected to one of the upright rods, and two similar lever braces pivotally and non-slidably connected to the diametrically opposite upright, a bracket slidably mounted on each of the remaining uprights and each bracket having the ends of two of said lever braces pivoted thereto, and a flexible cover surrounding the uprights and attached thereto, said cover being detachably connected at its lower edge to the upright rods whereby the rods may be forced a greater or less distance into the earth to thereby adjust the position of the top of the blind to hunters of different heights.

5. In a structure of the class described, the 7 pivotally connected at their central portions and Q formed with openings at their end portions to receive the upright rods, and a flexible cover attached to one of said bars and formed with flaps at its edges to overlap the sides of the structure, and means for detachably connecting the flaps to the sides of the structure.

6. In a structure of the class described, the combination of four upright rods and a top cover for the structure, formed of flexible material and shaped to cover the top of the structure, means for detachably securing its edges to the sides of the structure, and means for supporting the central portion of the top cover in a manner to shed rain, comprising two flexible bars pivoted together at their central portions and having openings at their end portions and placed under the top cover, the length of said bars between the openings therein being such that the bars must be bent upwardly at their central portions before they can be placed on the upright rods of the structure. 

